Do people really think eating clean/healthy is too boring?

dlyeates

Ooooh. And if you don't make your own salad dressing check out Bolthouse farms. They are made with real ingredients not chemicals and are all 45 calories or less for 2 TBSP. My hubby says he can't tell the difference between regular ranch and yogurt based ranch!!!

bcattoes

Boring? No, I've never thought of clean eating as boring, but I do believe it's unnecessary to eat 100% clean. I don't believe people who obsess over eating clean are healthier than those that simply focus on eating healthy foods most of the time. Certainly a healthy diet is going to include "clean" foods, but one does not have to cut all processed foods from their diet to be healthy.

lisamarie2181

I think people are just so used to eating the same junk most people have been eating for a long time, that they assume anything that is not fried or sugared must taste awfule. I used to be on board with them. I grew up eating fried stuff, cookies, etc. There are so many veggies and stuff I had never even tried. But as I got older, I found myself liking veggies more and more, though i still ate a lot of the really bad stuff. Then, about 7 months ago, I saw Forks Over Knives and some other food documenteries, and that combined with some other things that were going on in my life convinced me to completely overhaul the way I ate. I have given up any animal products, oil, processed foods, caffeine, anything with added sugar, etc. Once I did that, all of the cravings for the bad stuff went away. I feel better than I have ever felt, and I have lost over 80 pounds without too much effort really. At first I just stuck with the same old veggies and stuff that I had always eaten, but lately I have tried new things I never would have before, like turnips and brussel sprouts. My coworkers feel bad for me, because they think I am eating a bunch of boring, tasteless stuff. But the truth is, my food is FANTASTIC and I am way happier with it than I was the JUNK I was eating. My acid reflux has disappeared, as has all symptoms of IBS, which I had for many many years. Sorry, I did not mean to get off track, I am just passionate about healthy eating.

but, I think the bottom line is, people have just grown accustomed to the way of eating that is considered 'normal', and they tend to scorn what they do not try or understand. If people would give clean eating a real shot, I think most of them would LOVE it!

Wow congrats on all your success and i know just being rid of the ailments is huge! I too was turned onto this lifestyle by documentaries, they were a huge eye opener and made me want to change. I know what others feel about it being okay to eat processed and like i said i have no problem with people who choose to eat that way, but for me after everything i have learned and seen how just nutrition and being in optimum health can cure illnesses and changes lives, i couldnt possibly go back. Check out the documentaries food matters, the gershon miracle and food inc. In the past i did anything to lose weight, and was very malnourished because of it. I now realize it is about the nutrients we give our body, not just feeding it.

Like i said however you are comfortable in losing weight, it is your journey and if it works for you keep it up. At this point for myself it is about getting to optimum health and the weight loss is a nice product of that! Thank you all for your comments, in the end we are all struggling to reach our goals of being happy and healthy and however we choose to do it, i wish you all luck and hope for great success for you all

hottottie11

100% clean eating is boring...I tried it...low sugar, high protein, "no" to everything...I was miserable because I began to develop an elitist attitude towards certain foods. I felt I could even enjoy an occasional treat at a social function without guilty. I feel that's more unhealthy than indulging (within reason) on fried chicken, cookies and ice cream.

deb3129

100% clean eating is boring...I tried it...low sugar, high protein, "no" to everything...I was miserable because I began to develop an elitist attitude towards certain foods. I felt I could even enjoy an occasional treat at a social function without guilty. I feel that's more unhealthy than indulging (within reason) on fried chicken, cookies and ice cream.

I don't think it is more unhealthy than indulging on those things, and my weight, cholesterol level, blood pressure, IBS and acid reflux don't think so either.

bcattoes

I think people are just so used to eating the same junk most people have been eating for a long time, that they assume anything that is not fried or sugared must taste awfule. I used to be on board with them. I grew up eating fried stuff, cookies, etc. There are so many veggies and stuff I had never even tried. But as I got older, I found myself liking veggies more and more, though i still ate a lot of the really bad stuff. Then, about 7 months ago, I saw Forks Over Knives and some other food documenteries, and that combined with some other things that were going on in my life convinced me to completely overhaul the way I ate. I have given up any animal products, oil, processed foods, caffeine, anything with added sugar, etc. Once I did that, all of the cravings for the bad stuff went away. I feel better than I have ever felt, and I have lost over 80 pounds without too much effort really. At first I just stuck with the same old veggies and stuff that I had always eaten, but lately I have tried new things I never would have before, like turnips and brussel sprouts. My coworkers feel bad for me, because they think I am eating a bunch of boring, tasteless stuff. But the truth is, my food is FANTASTIC and I am way happier with it than I was the JUNK I was eating. My acid reflux has disappeared, as has all symptoms of IBS, which I had for many many years. Sorry, I did not mean to get off track, I am just passionate about healthy eating.

but, I think the bottom line is, people have just grown accustomed to the way of eating that is considered 'normal', and they tend to scorn what they do not try or understand. If people would give clean eating a real shot, I think most of them would LOVE it!

Congrats on finding a healthy diet that works for you. I mean that sincerely.

But you must realize that eating junk and eating the way you describe are not the only 2 options. I think everyone can agree that eating nothing but junk is not ideal, but it's completely possible to have a healthy diet without the extremes you chose.

ETA: I glanced at your diary and saw that it isn't quite as strict as your post suggests. I don't mean to criticize, I think you eat very healthy, but there were some processed foods in there.

Acg67

Depends on your definition of clean

Rocbola

I can't see how a ripe in season peach could ever be boring. Or a ripe mango. Or a pineapple. Crispy fresh salad leaves covered with fresh garden tomatoes and fresh garden cucumbers are rarely boring. Fresh bruschetta made entirely from my garden is delicious, even if you skip the bread and eat it with a spoon.

Sarauk2sf

This is making the assumption that is you do not eat 'clean', whatever that means, you are eating unhealthily. You can eat what may or may not be considered 'clean' and still eat healthily.

deb3129

I think people are just so used to eating the same junk most people have been eating for a long time, that they assume anything that is not fried or sugared must taste awfule. I used to be on board with them. I grew up eating fried stuff, cookies, etc. There are so many veggies and stuff I had never even tried. But as I got older, I found myself liking veggies more and more, though i still ate a lot of the really bad stuff. Then, about 7 months ago, I saw Forks Over Knives and some other food documenteries, and that combined with some other things that were going on in my life convinced me to completely overhaul the way I ate. I have given up any animal products, oil, processed foods, caffeine, anything with added sugar, etc. Once I did that, all of the cravings for the bad stuff went away. I feel better than I have ever felt, and I have lost over 80 pounds without too much effort really. At first I just stuck with the same old veggies and stuff that I had always eaten, but lately I have tried new things I never would have before, like turnips and brussel sprouts. My coworkers feel bad for me, because they think I am eating a bunch of boring, tasteless stuff. But the truth is, my food is FANTASTIC and I am way happier with it than I was the JUNK I was eating. My acid reflux has disappeared, as has all symptoms of IBS, which I had for many many years. Sorry, I did not mean to get off track, I am just passionate about healthy eating.

but, I think the bottom line is, people have just grown accustomed to the way of eating that is considered 'normal', and they tend to scorn what they do not try or understand. If people would give clean eating a real shot, I think most of them would LOVE it!

Congrats on finding a healthy diet that works for you. I mean that sincerely.

But you must realize that eating junk and eating the way you describe are not the only 2 options. I think everyone can agree that eating nothing but junk is not ideal, but it's completely possible to have a healthy diet without the extremes you chose.

ETA: I glanced at your diary and saw that it isn't quite as strict as your post suggests. I don't mean to criticize, I think you eat very healthy, but there were some processed foods in there.

Yep, there are some processed foods in there, but not a whole lot. I do the best I can, but I am not perfect. My diary is open for anyone who would like to take a look.

WendyTerry420

This is making the assumption that is you do not eat 'clean', whatever that means, you are eating unhealthily. You can eat what may or may not be considered 'clean' and still eat healthily.

^^^ THIS

bcattoes

Salt is also a reason why you will feel hungry later. Think of chinese food. You eat it, an hour later you feel hungry. Your body can't process much from it,

Why do you think our bodies can't process much from Chinese food??

spikefoot

I am just amazed at how much my taste and cravings have changed since eliminating a lot of crap.

So within reason not boring at all...

lisamarie2181

This is making the assumption that is you do not eat 'clean', whatever that means, you are eating unhealthily. You can eat what may or may not be considered 'clean' and still eat healthily.

What I meant was that I have noticed going through some diaries, that there are quite a few the eat heavily processed on a daily basis, and I am not just talking lean cuisines, I am talking pizza hut (pizza places in general), fried prepacked foods from the grocery store, fast food, things of this matter. IMO, no I do not consider that a healthy diet when you are consuming these things on a daily basis, just because they are in your calories. And half the time they are not in the calories because they eat a very large meal at once and then barely eat anything the rest of the day because they are out of calories.

I am not speaking of people that eat healthy and have the occasional treats in between or minimally processed items in their days. I know for myself because I still have a ways to go, all those bad things are what got me here in the first place, so yes IMO option, if I am trying to lose weight and get healthy, they should not be a normal staple in my diet. Like I said before, if people do it and it works for them, that is great. But I am not just trying to lose weight, I am trying to be healthy, have my body full of nutrients and functioning properly and how it was meant to. Alot of processed easy packaged foods barely have any actual "food" in them. If you take a look at labels of some things, there is about 2 or 3 food ingredients and about 12 that you can't pronounce or have no idea what it is. These are the kind of things that I am not really sure how someone can argue that product is as nutritionally sound as a product made of whole ingredients that have nutrients. Lab created additives and fillers do not have nutrition.

I honestly think that it comes down to people having the view that it is completely about nutrients and the quality of food you put in your body opposed to being able to eat whatever you want and be in your calories. Because I have PCOS, I have never been able to do those things, eat whatever I want and still lose. This is what brought me to research and discover more about the nutrients and how lacking our bodies are of them. This is why I choose to live this lifestyle and though I am not perfect, I do have slip up days where I go alittle haywire, but they are way fewer and far between then when I ate processed foods.

Whatever you choose to be believe, do what is best for you. I was just curious to see the reasoning why people don't like or choose to eat or not to eat clean (and by that I mean No processed or minimal). It seems like cooking and not cooking plays a large factor in not doing clean (or lets call it whole food eating) because living this way does mean you have to plan, prep and cook all the time.

hottottie11

100% clean eating is boring...I tried it...low sugar, high protein, "no" to everything...I was miserable because I began to develop an elitist attitude towards certain foods. I felt I could even enjoy an occasional treat at a social function without guilty. I feel that's more unhealthy than indulging (within reason) on fried chicken, cookies and ice cream.

I don't think it is more unhealthy than indulging on those things, and my weight, cholesterol level, blood pressure, IBS and acid reflux don't think so either.

Which is why I said "I feel that's more unhealthy than indulging (within reason) on fried chicken, cookies and ice cream." I get bloodwork done every year and I pass with flying colors.

Being healthy is more than "eating clean", it's about developing a better relationship with food. If you eat 100% for the rest of your life. More to ya. I can't....

californiagirl2012

I sort of laugh at the term "clean eating". I think they just mean eat unprocessed foods. I have gone through all the diet BS in the last 20 years, including 100% organic fanatic. To me 100% organic would be "clean", as clean as you can get.

I have found a happy medium. You can eat as clean as you want but if it's too much food you will not lose weight. Sometimes a few unclean things can help you remain sane and keep your calories down. Losing weight is all about calories, nothing else. And if you are eating less you want the biggest bang for your nutrition, feeding your body what it needs, especially if you work out hard. If your goal is to be healthy you will naturally granite towards healthy foods.

Healthy foods are far from boring. Once you get used to it and learn to spice things up, you crave it. I rarely got out to eat because I feel my home prepared foods taste awesome and everything out there already prepared is far less superior, unless it' is a premium co-op deli or something and then it is too expensive because the ingredients are the best.

erinnstreeter

I am just amazed at how much my taste and cravings have changed since eliminating a lot of crap.

So within reason not boring at all...

Yep, pretty much what I was going to say. Not only are my cravings for highly processed foods mostly gone, when i'm in a situation where I have to eat those foods, they don't taste so good anymore, and I don't feel good afterward. But after a clean meal, I always feel satiated and good.

hpsnickers1

Meat, chicken (dark meat, baby!!), pork, fish, seafood, shellfish, eggs, bacon, full fat dairy products (from local grass-fed dairy). coconut oil, butter, olive oil, coconut milk (heck coconut anything). I can sit down and eat a 12oz steak smothered in salt/pepper and a sweet potato dripping with butter and cinnamon. I crisp up leftover salmon skin brushed with butter under the broiler. BACON OF THE SEA! I eat 85% dark chocolate for breakfast - amazing with a cup of strong black coffee w/ or w/o heavy cream. I eat frozen blueberries in coconut milk or heavy cream like a bowl of cereal. I buy local and buy from farmer's markets to ensure the highest nutrient content. (I eat veggies because some are probably better than none but I don't go out of my way to get them.)


The reason clean eating is "boring" is because fat is where the flavor is. And we're told that fat makes us fat (which isn't true) so we remove ALL FLAVOR from real food. Interesting that I eat about 65%-70% of my daily calories as fat and I'm maintaining -with very little actual structured exercise - 110lbs. And my energy levels are through the roof from when I wake up to when I relax for the night. Thank you Primal Blueprint.

vkruithof

bump!

maybe you all would like to share a favorite recipe? ;o)

BarreGirl

I think alot of the "boring" comes from eating the same things. Those of us on a VERY limited budget, but want to eat right, typically eat the same things over and over because we know we like them, we know they're healthy, and we know exactly how much we need to budget to afford them.

I also think the "boring" comes from the planning involved. It's never spontaneous, you always know before you walk out of the house what you'll be eating that day...

The hardest part is reminding yourself that food is fuel, not fun.